ovicula

Latin

Alternative forms

ovecula

Etymology

From ovis (“sheep”) +‎ -cula (diminutive ending).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɔˈwɪ.kʊ.ɫa]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [oˈviː.ku.la]

Noun

ovicula f (genitive oviculae); first declension

diminutive of ovis; little sheep

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	ovicula	oviculae
genitive	oviculae	oviculārum
dative	oviculae	oviculīs
accusative	oviculam	oviculās
ablative	oviculā	oviculīs
vocative	ovicula	oviculae

Related terms

Descendants

Italo-Romance:
- Italian: oveglia, ⇒? recchia
Northern Gallo-Romance:
- Old French: oeille, ⇒ oaille (influenced by the suffix -aille)
  - Angevin: oueille
  - Bourbonnais-Berrichon: oueille, ouille
  - Bourguignon: oueille, voueille, oille, ouille
  - French: ouaille
  - Gallo: oveille, oueille
  - Lorrain: ouille
  - Poitevin-Saintongeais: oueille
Southern Gallo-Romance:
- Old Catalan: oveylla, oveila, ovela, oveya, hoveila, hovela, hovella, auvella, euveya, obella
  - Catalan: ovella, oveia, auvella, ouvella, auveia, auvea, aovella, uella, güella, auella, avolla, avoia, voia (from Vulgar Latin *ovuc(u)la)
- Old Occitan: ovella, oelha
  Auvergnat: oelha, olha
  
  Gascon: oelha, aulha, avelha, òlha, agoelha, goelha, auelha
  
  Languedocien: oelha
  
  Limousin: ovelha, oelha (Marchois), olha (Bas-Limousin)
Ibero-Romance:
- Aragonese: ovella, uella
- Asturian: oveya
- Mirandese: oubeilha
- Old Galician-Portuguese: ovella
  - Galician: ovella
  - Portuguese: ovelha
- Old Spanish: oueja, ouega, oueia (alternative spellings)
  - Ladino: oveja
  - Spanish: oveja
⇒ Vulgar Latin: *ovucula
- Catalan: avolla, avoia, voia
Borrowings:
- →? Lusitanian: oilam

References

ALF: Atlas Linguistique de la France^[1] [Linguistic Atlas of France] – map 173: “brebis” – on lig-tdcge.imag.fr
Petit Atles Lingüístic del Domini Català 6 'ovella'
Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “ŏvĭcula”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 7: N–Pas, page 446

Further reading

“ovicula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
ovicula in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.